48 SPIROCHiETES 



excrement in the vicinity of the wound, careful disinfection, with 

 alcohol or carbolic acid, of the wound before the removal of the 

 parasite is a good means of prevention if the suspected trans- 

 mitter be caught in the act of biting. 



Sjrphilis 



History. — There are few diseases which mean more to the 

 human race as a whole than syphilis, due in part to its almost 

 universal distribution, and in part to its insidious and deceiving 

 course, thereby leading to untold misery and disaster. Rosenau 

 says " civilization and syphilization have been close companions " ; 

 the one has followed in the wake of the other like the gueril- 

 las behind an army. Unlike most diseases, syphilis is one of 

 whose origin among civilized nations we have strong evidence. 

 There are many reasons for believing that syphilis was acquired 

 by the members of Columbus' crew when they discovered the 

 island of Haiti, and that it was carried back to Spain by them on 

 their return. These adventurers promptly joined the army of 

 Charles VIII of France in its invasion of Italy in 1494. Soon 

 after the army had triumphantly set up a court in Naples it 

 became weakened through the ravages of a terrible venereal 

 disease of unusual intensity, hitherto apparently unknown in 

 Europe. The following year the army retreated almost in a 

 rout and was broken up, the miscellaneous troops scattering all 

 over Europe to their respective home countries, and carrying the 

 new disease with them. In the next four years the disease had 

 spread to practically every country in Europe, and was soon car- 

 ried by the Portuguese to Africa and the Orient. The venereal 

 nature of the disease was fully recognized, and its foreign origin 

 was well known, each nation trying to shift the responsibility to 

 another by name, many peoples calling it the " French disease," 

 others the " Spanish disease," etc., while the Spanish alone seemed 

 aware of its real origin in America and called it " espanola " 

 which then meant Haiti. The absence of any reference to a 

 disease resembling syphilis in the historical records before the 

 discovery of America; the absence of any bones showing evidence 

 of syphilitic attack in the abundant pre-Columbian remains in 

 Europe, and abundance of such bones in American remains, 

 many of which must certainly be pre-Columbian; the positive 



